News

And then there was one. The National Steeplechase Association season, which began way back in March, comes to an end with the Aiken Fall Races in Aiken, S.C. Saturday. The seven-race card gets started at 1 p.m., with most of the attention drawn to a still-tied race for the 2024 training championship. Leslie Young and … Read more

Down to two. The shadows are long on the 2024 steeplechase season, which includes just two more days of racing – Sunday’s long-awaited return of the Colonial Cup in Camden, S.C. and next Saturday’s Aiken Steeplechase down the road in Aiken. After that, put the traps away and let the horses rest. Jump racing returns in … Read more

By Jennie Rees The 119 horses in the entries for Saturday’s eight Claiming Crown races at Churchill Downs might have been inexpensive at some stage of their career. But that doesn’t mean they’re not valuable. “This day of racing has become a remarkable event in the horse-racing industry as it celebrates the hardworking and often … Read more

Tom Law, managing editor at ST Publishing and a longtime Thoroughbred racing writer, received the Joe Hirsch Breeders’ Cup Writing Award for outstanding news reporting during last Wednesday night’s 64th annual National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Awards Dinner at The Brigantine in Del Mar, California. A native and resident of Saratoga Springs, New York, Law … Read more

A few days before the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga this summer, Chad Brown thought about Sierra Leone’s second in the Kentucky Derby and his third in the Belmont Stakes and looked ahead. It was the only choice, really. Narrow losses like those two – with bumps, drifts, a stumbling start, an eight-wide bid, a … Read more

Thorpedo Anna showed it to Judy Hicks almost from Day 1. She showed it again this week at Del Mar, and especially Saturday in the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff. “She has two sides to her: the grizzly and the laid-back girl,” Hicks said Saturday, after Thorpedo Anna tore through the scratch-laden Distaff field … Read more

Time for the main event. Future Stars Friday set the tone for a big weekend ahead and makes way for Championship Saturday. Nine Breeders’ Cup races are on tap, including the star-studded $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, internationally strong $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf and $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff featuring the biggest star of … Read more

John Panagot wasn’t quite running around like Jim Valvano Friday afternoon at Del Mar, but Manny Franco’s agent could have used somebody to hug after the jockey delivered a victory with Immersive in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. And it had little to do with the commission check. “Somebody said something to me … Read more

The Breeders’ Cup gets all the attention in Thoroughbred racing this weekend, but the jumpers head to two meets Saturday as the autumn season meanders to a close this month. Virginia’s Montpelier Hunt Races and Georgia’s Callaway Gardens go to the post for races over hurdles and timber and even a couple on the dirt … Read more

Time for the show. All the preliminaries and morning-training prognostications in the books, the 41st Breeders’ Cup World Championships are ready to roll. Everything kicks into gear with Future Stars Friday at Del Mar, the appetizer lead-in to Saturday’s main event. Don’t discount the star power on display Friday at the place “Where the Turf … Read more